It is generally known to provide an eye wash station configured for flooding or rinsing of one or both of the eyes of a person (e.g., a worker or other user) with water or a fluid solution in order to remove, dilute, or neutralize a contaminant or other foreign material.
Some known eye wash stations are connected to a building water supply (i.e., plumbing) system, and are configured to spray a water stream (typically cold water) into one or both of the user's eyes upon the opening of a valve in communication with the supply. In such known eye wash stations, there is the possibility of the water stream containing corrosion or scale particles or organic growths. Because such eye wash stations are typically used infrequently, upon opening of the valve any stagnant water and debris (e.g., corrosion products) in the piping of the water supply system to the eye wash station may be flushed into the user's eyes. Moreover, such eye wash stations are not portable for use in non-stationary work places.
Portable eye wash stations are also generally known. Such known portable eye wash stations typically include a tank of fluid which is elevated with respect to a flow outlet configured to spray a fluid stream into the user's eyes. In some known eye wash stations, the tank is permanently affixed within the eye wash station. The tank, which must be refilled after the station has been used or on a periodic maintenance basis, can be difficult to refill without spillage or without introducing contaminant (such as dust from ambient air or foreign material rinsed from the region of the tank refill port by fluid which may strike the rim before going into the tank). It may be unwieldy to transport the eye wash station itself. Other generally known eye wash stations have tanks which are removable. The tank of such known eye wash stations may be unwieldy and difficult to align during installation.
Known portable eye wash stations including elevated tanks for gravity feed of fluid to a user's eyes include valves for turning flow of fluid on or off. Valves in general include elastomeric or plastomeric seals which are subject to degradation by age, heat, and/or environmental contaminants. Further, the fluid pressure at an eye wash spray nozzle is a function of fluid head at the inlet to the nozzle. As fluid is used and the tank is gradually emptied, the fluid height within the tank, the consequent hydraulic head at the spray nozzle inlet, and thereby both fluid flow rate through the spray nozzle and height of a spray pattern from the spray nozzle gradually diminish.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous for a portable eye wash station to include a removable tank configured for convenient installation. It would also be advantageous for a portable eye wash station to be configured for ease of use, for example wherein a user does not have to actuate a valve to start flow of eye wash fluid. It would further be advantageous for a portable eye wash station to include a constant level reservoir, configured to provide a substantially constant hydraulic head to eye wash spray nozzles and thereby a substantially constant fluid flow rate and height of spray pattern.